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July 31st,
2006
By Joel
Welser
Broadcast Basketball
San
Francisco Dons
Overall Rank:
#104
Conference
Rank: #3 WCC
2005-06:
11-17, 7-7, 4th
2005-06
postseason: none
 San
Francisco has tons of talent, but they need to put it
together to finally go over .500 in conference. With a couple
of big name transfers eligible, and Johnny Dukes back from
injury, this could be the year the Dons make some noise in the
West Coast Conference.
Who’s Out:
Jerome Gumbs, Jason Wallace-Carter and Dommanic Ingerson all
started at least 16 games last year as seniors. Gumbs averaged
10.8 points and 5.5 boards, big man Wallace-Carter tacked on 8.5
points and 6.2 boards and Ingerson added 7.9 points per
contest. Drew Shiller saw decent minutes as a freshman but
opted to transfer to Stanford.
Who’s In:
Antonio
Kellogg and Manny Quezada will step in immediately and make a
big impact. Kellogg averaged 3.2 points and 2.2 assists for
UConn two years ago and can handle both guard spots. Quezada,
another combo guard, averaged 2.8 points for Rutgers in
2004-2005. With those two, depth at the guard spots won’t be an
issue. Dukes, a 6-8 forward, will help out the frontcourt after
missing last season. He averaged 5.6 points as a junior and
should find his way back to the starting lineup. Incoming
freshmen Jay Watkins and Jared Casey will provide some depth up
front. Watkins is a versatile 6-7 forward, who had some
interest from power conference teams. Casey, at 6-10, 235
pounds, is another big body under the basket. The Canadian is a
great athlete, having played soccer, baseball and hockey. That
versatility will help him battle under the basket and step
outside to make the short jumpers.
Who to Watch:
The
problem is in the frontcourt. Dukes and returning starter Danny
Cavic are ideally small forwards, but one will likely slide up
to the power forward spot. Alan Wiggins, Jr. is an athletic
power forward who averaged 14.1 points and 8.3 rebounds last
year and will anchor the group in the paint. Vince Polakovic
and Jesse Byrd, along with Casey and Watkins, will provide the
depth up front.
Final
Projection:
Armondo Surratt
has proven to be a solid point guard after transferring in from
Miami. The 6-0, Oakland, California native led the team with
14.2 points and 5.1 assists last season. Despite leading the
team in scoring, Surratt is a pure point guard. With a few more
scorers on the team, Surratt can go back to doing what he does
best.
Projected
Post-season Tournament:
none
Projected
Starting Five:
Armondo Surratt,
Senior, Guard, 14.2 points per game
Antonio Kellogg,
Sophomore, Guard, DNP last season
Danny Cavic,
Junior, Guard, 5.4 points per game
Johnny Dukes,
Senior, Forward, DNP last season
Alan Wiggins,
Senior, Forward, 14.1 points per game
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